


Take pictures of moments because that's what matters

by LaundryBasket (LaundryBasket____LuLuGal)



Category: Psych (TV 2006)
Genre: Gen, Headaches & Migraines, Psychic, Psychic Abilities, Real Psychic Shawn Spencer, Visions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:28:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23402236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaundryBasket____LuLuGal/pseuds/LaundryBasket
Summary: When Shawn begins to receive visions he wonders if the lie of him being a real Psychic is actually a lie. The only problem is the pain that follows each time one comes.
Relationships: Juliet O'Hara & Shawn Spencer
Comments: 31
Kudos: 130





	1. Chimichangas can wait

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all you lovely people! Here is the first chapter! I hope you enjoy and I love hearing from you all with ideas or thoughts or simply feedback:) more chapters to come.

Pictures and faces are swilling. It's a whirlwind of colors and words and the past 48 hours play on repeat in random order. It's nauseating and the worst kind of déjà vu, the kind that leaves Shawn's head pounding and nerves twisting, also the kind that leaves him in dire need of a Creamsicle. Life suddenly swims back into place again in a final white flash that backhands him not in the kindest way. 

"...Shawn? Shawn were you even listening to anything I just said?" Gus' irritated and mildly upset voice punctures Shawn's ears, leaving him longing to be back in bed and miss out on his best friends unnecessarily loud ranting. It was something about parking spaces and a co worker named Sarahh with two h’s with a strong attraction to "playas" but Shawn didn't catch anything past that before his "episode" decided to make a surprise appearance. 

"Yeah buddy, totally. Didn't miss a thing, you know you're really captivating when you yell like that but for the sake of the neighbors let's turn it down a notch." Please. It feels like Shawn has the worst hangover known to man. Worse than that third time at the Mexican border line that Gus does not and will not ever know about. 

"We're in the car Shawn, there are no neighbors. And I wasn't even yelling!" Gus tuts at him and rears up to get going again but is blessedly stopped by his phone buzzing. 

Not that Shawn doesn't love hearing his best friend complain, or to be there to respond in obscure 80's references that Gus has so kindly pointed out no one likes or understands, but a little bit of silence would do wonders for the after effects of the trauma the vision graced him with. 

What sucks is this one wasn't even helpful. It gave nothing focused enough and what he saw just left him confused and nauseous. Shawn allows himself to slump into his seat and rest his forehead on the glass window now that Gus is finally distracted by answering the phone. “It’s the Chief.” 

"Hello? No were not doing anything...” Gus continues talking but Shawn can’t bring himself to pay attention. 

Outside the sun is shining, but getting covered now and then by some unhappy looking clouds. Shawn tries to understand what brought the vision on in the first place. It all started about a month or so ago. The first one coming in the form of a weird dream so Shawn didn't think too much about it, other than popping an Advil to chase away the headache that was left over. 

Shawn would be fine to continue hiding the headaches, the nauseousness and all, especially when it would only occur once every few days. But they have been getting worse, more frequent and harder to hide. The visions have been helpful here and there, it’s like his own memory playing over in his mind but more intense like an actual.....vision.

“We’ll be there soon.” Gus ends the call quickly drawing Shawn back out of his thoughts that he seems to get lost in too often for his liking these days. 

"The Chief says she needs us now with help on a case. She sounded pretty upset, it sounds like Lassiter and Juliet are on their way too." Gus says, turning the car at the next stop. His phone dings and Gus pulls up the address that was just sent to them. Shawn groans and rubs a knuckle to his temple that does nothing but aggravate his borderline migraine. "Hey, you doing ok?" Shawn feels Gus’ eyes on him.

"What? Of course, I Just thought we had settled on getting chimichangas. Also I think I may need to sleep for a solid week and never do anything ever again. " Shawns head throbs and he hides his wince by stretching his back. 

"Dude you slept in till noon today and dozed right through our conversation, how much sleep do you need? Also while the Chief actually wants to hire us, chimichangas will have to wait." Gus looks at him again giving those side eyes that show more concern than anything. “You’re not getting sick are you?” Shawn doesn't know if he can take this right now. The whole trying to convince others he's fine is getting harder and harder with each day. 

“Come on son, I never get sick.” Just visions that threaten to tear his brain apart. Gus’ eyebrows furrow. "And a grown man needs about 12-14 hours of sleep a night Gus. I thought you knew this." Shawn fiddles with the settings on his chair, leaning it back a few inches, so that he's no longer sitting so straight up. 

"That’s 7-9 hours Shawn and no you haven't heard it both ways." Gus says with irritation from earlier back into his voice.


	2. Pineapple Smoothies and Muddy Boots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shawn and Gus arrive to the crime scene, getting more involved than Lassie would hope.

"Shawn the chief called you almost an hour ago. Where have you been?" Juliet says the second they reach the crime scene. It’s muddy and cold and windy and a wonderful recipe for the chilling feeling that has now embedded itself into Shawn's bones. 

"Sorry Jules, Gus insisted on smoothies and then he promptly got lost on our way here." Shawn takes a sip from his pineapple beverage, instantly regretting the cooling it brings to his already freezing frame but accepting how it ebs the nausea away. 

"That was you Shawn and I didn't get lost, you gave me the wrong directions." Gus says and freaks when some mud gets on the top of his white pumas. 

Lassie the giant suddenly comes up and looks like he's been sucking on a lemon. "Great Spencer, you're here. Now leave, we don't need you."

"Well the chief says differently, and with a bit more flare, want to give it another go Lassie?" 

"Go. Home." Lassie then turns and leaves without another word. 

"I can’t believe I'm about to say this but he seems a bit less chipper than usual. Life must’ve given him too many lemons for his lemonade this morning if you know what I mean." Shawn says leaning over to Gus, who nods in agreement. 

"I’m sorry but he's right Shawn, this case is actually looking like we’ve got a handle on it, the chief may have jumped the gun calling the two of you." Juliet has a bit of sympathy in her voice, shooting a look over at Lassiter. 

Shawn looks ahead at the actual crime scene and his stomach flips. They’re in a dirt parking lot for a warehouse right at the edge of the forest. There's a man in the middle of the lot covered in mud and blood. The body is mangled to say the least. A knife wound in his abdomen is sluggishly bleeding with surprisingly the murder weapon still within the mans...abdomen. He’s got a major head contusion indenting his skull. Paramedics are walking onto the scene ready to pack him up.

Shawn looks at what’s in front of him, squinting his eyes, because for some reason that does actually help, thank you very much Gus. The victim has a medic alert bracelet on and a saint Jude necklace around his neck. He's wearing a brown leather jacket and jeans and his boots are caked in the mud that he is currently swimming in. There's two different sets of footprints aside from the victims and the police that have been stomping around.

“This doesn’t look too open and shut to me Jules.” Shawn can feel the beginnings of another vision swirling In the back of his mind and tries to mentally shove it back. Seriously? Again so soon? He needs to wrap this up as soon as humanly possible. 

"Well we do have a man, who appears to be the killer, in custody. We're taking him in for questioning." Jules says pointing to a squad car. The man inside has got a bit of mud on his handcuffed hands mixed with a bit of dried blood. He doesn't look upset but he looks...traumatized? 

"Already? What, was he just waiting here for you guys to arrest him?" Gus says. 

"Well we got an anomninous tip saying there was going to be a drug deal going on here and when we arrived on scene we saw the victim on the ground and the killer just above him. He tried to run but we ran him down. He actually hasn’t said a word since we got here." Juliet says as the car holding said criminal begins to pull out. 

Alarms are going off in Shawn's head and he knows a vision is going to hit any second so the best he can do is ride it out. A sharp pain stabs his temples and Shawn does what he can to put on a mask but a gasp still slips out. He grips his cooling smoothie in one hand and the other instantly goes to the side of his head as if drawn there by magnets. 

"Shawn?" Juliet's voice sounds like it far away, or underwater, or both. 

His surroundings fade.

Theres a tattoo on the dead mans forearm that flashes before him. The vision jerks and he sees the same tattoo on the man the police have in the car. The knife, it originally came from the victim himself, but Shawn sees someone taking it from him? The man arrested came to the lot and saw the victim already dead. It all shifts to hours before, the two of them are fighting, yelling about meeting with someone? They come from the same place, same home.....they’re brothers.

Shawn's vision ends leaving him confused and taken away in his own thoughts. He doesn’t realize he’s panting till his ears stop ringing and he hears the deep breaths himself. The visions have never been like that. Never. Shawns head is reeling as he realized the vision was actually....a vision. Not just flashbacks of memories of his own. 

“Shawn!” A voice pulls him back and Shawn decides to put this all in a file to think about, or more likely freak out about later. He shakes his head. 

"Uhh the killer....the....you have the wrong guy Jules." Shawn try's to replace his pain filled everything with a cool and collected look. His head is throbbing and the scene in front of him is swimming.

"What? How do you know." 

"Huh? Uh...I'm, I’m seeing the crime, his brother got here after the victim was dead. He was set up." Theres no theatrical tone to his voice but Shawn can’t bring himself to care. 

"His brother...? Shawn you're not making much sense." 

Words are running in his mind too fast for him to catch and once again it's frickin difficult to explain what he's seen, but miraculously the pain finally eases a bit, just enough for him to breathe. 

Handing his smoothie to Gus he resorts to walking towards the victim and moving aside the men about to cover him up. Squatting down he grabs the victims arm showcasing it to his audience around. This will either go well in his favor or.....get him kicked off the premises, especially if the vision was fake and Shawn is just going insane. Which is the more likely possibility. 

"Spenser back away from the body now!" Lassie says deep and growly, like talking to a dog about to eat his Caesar salad. Here goes nothing.

"Does anyone recognize this?" Shawn pulls back the sleeve on the vicim revealing the tattoo on the forearm. Shawn has to say he’s the most suprised of the group that the tattoo is actually there. It’s all black and a crest of some sort. There's a dead bird inside of it with an arrow in its chest. 

"That's...that's the gang sign for Dissimulation!" Buzz says excitedly. 

"Really? Oh I'd thought they'd be called the sprucey gooseys." Shawn lets the arm drop down splashing in the mud but remains in his squatting position, enjoying the moment of rest. Only disapproved looks are his response, mostly coming from Lassie, which is more of a death glare. “Goose troop? Anyone? Come on, am I the only one thinking they could have gone about 100 better ways with the name? Gosling gang?”

“That’s a sparrow Shawn, and only baby geese are called gosling, everybody knows that.” Gus says, nodding his head with a smile to the paramedic woman stand next to him. 

“So you’re telling me that Ryan Gosling....is a baby Goose.” Shawn shifts his stance frowning at how the world tilts for a second. Suddenly Lassie appears right next to him, grabbing Shawn by the arm and neck, pulling him up and instantly sending shocks of pain down the Psychics spine. 

“Thats it, Spencer you need to leave now!” He roughly drags the younger man. 

“Lassiter wait!” Juliet steps in front of the two.

Once the ground decides to stop moving Shawn speaks up.   
"Lassie, I sense this was no rivalry between brothers but....but a wrong move with the gang." Shawn uses his sensing move to run knuckles at his aching temple. 

"That actually would make sense. That gang is known for being ruthless." Buzz brightly says. Shawn still is amazed how the taller man somehow is only ever seen with a smile, even when talking about a gruesome death. He’s like a large puppy, large happy puppy who just had 2 and a half cups of coffee. Man coffee sounds amazing right now, and possibly combined with the longest nap known to man. 

"Oh come on! We have the killer in custody and you suddenly believe this idiot because of a tattoo on the victim? Spencer for the last time get yourself and your dumb smoothie away from my crime scene!" Lassie says viciously and jerks Shawn out of his tumbling train of thoughts by literally jerking him. 

"At least look into it Lassie! The spirits are telling me they’re brothers and that they were close too. Where’s the motive? Where are the drugs he was supposedly supposed to be dealing? The killer is still out there!” Shawn says quickly. It would be really great to leave now and have time to himself to process what the heck is going on.....

Juliet jumps in releasing Lassiters grip on Shawn pulling him aside. “Shawn, we never said this case was closed, and we will call when we need your help.” She lowers her voice. “You’re not looking too good. Why don’t you head home and get some rest. I will call you the second anything changes.” She turns to Gus who this whole time has held onto looking concerned, irritated, annoyed and also curious the whole time. It’s a combination of looks he often wears when he’s with Shawn.

Shawn usually hates giving into defeat but he feels now is an exception to the rule.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your likes and comments!!! You’re amazing!! Please let me know what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gus is worried and Henry Spencer’s house is on the horizon.

“You didn’t tell me you were sick Shawn.” Gus says as they reach their beloved blueberry. 

“You never told me about Susie Hartley in the 9th grade.” Shawn says over the hood. 

Gus' head quickly pops back up, half his body in the motion of getting into the car. "How’d you know about Susie? You know what, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He finishes the motion and rudely but gently (it’s a company car) slams the door shut. Shawn follows. 

The cool car seat feels good on the back of Shawn's head and he closes his eyes, gripping his now lukewarm smoothie and taking a second to enjoy not being on his feet. Gus starts the car and backs them out of the danger of the crime zone. 

"Everyone knew about Susie, Gus. She wore pioneer dresses to school and carried a stuff animal buffalo in the crook of her arm. It was obvious the day that thing was under your arm and not hers." Shawn's eyes blissfully remain closed as his body eases up on the pain, it’s the best he’s felt all day actually. He opens his eyes to properly banter with his friend.

"That was a comfort item and you know that. And she had carpal tunnel! I was just being a gentleman and carrying it for her. Anyways, we all do crazy things in our youth Shawn." Gus eases the car down the street. 

"Yeah, but usually those kinds of things end before your sweet 16 and I thought only old people and ping pong players got carpool." 

"First of all, it’s carpal, not carpool and whatever Shawn, you're sick and obviously delusional. I'm taking you home." The motion of the car makes Shawn's head swim a bit.

"Ah but Gus, you know your couch is much more comfortable than mine." 

"You know that's right." Why does Gus look so proud about that? 

"And that's exactly why I'm going to steal it in the middle of the night as you dream of the weather girl from channel 2 while wearing your fireman pajamas." Gus looks like he’s about to tut but then shrugs, probably right now thinking of the weather girl from channel 2. 

Shawn's attention goes to his hands as he notices a sticky substance coating a few of his fingers. Looking down he sees red. His heart stutters. “Ah, corn syrup.” 

“That’s not syrup, that’s blood.” Gus brings a hand to his stomach as if to calm the sudden waves rolling. 

Shawn shoves down nausea himself for what seems like the 12th time today and moves his hand towards his friend. “Here wipe it off.” 

“Get your hand away from me Shawn, that’s what you get for messing around with a dead guy.” 

“Well, what do you want me to do with it?” Shawn wines. 

“That’s it, I’m taking you to your dads.” Gus threats. 

The words suddenly get caught in Shawn's throat before he can even argue against that terrible suggestion. His vision goes white and his fingers burn. 

And he thought he was starting to feel better, joke’s on him. 

The car fades to dirt and trees and Shawn’s suddenly standing above the body from the crime scene, there’s blood at his feet and he feels his own heart tear at the pain laced in the scream coming from behind him. The alive brother from the scene comes running to the limp body on the ground. He’s not alone. There’s another figure standing next to Shawn stopping the brother in his place, his face fading with the edges of the vision. 

“I’m sorry Tommy, you know we always liked him.” The man's voice is steady as he wipes his already clean hands on a handkerchief. “I know what you two were planning on doing. Please don’t take me as an idiot like your brother did.” 

“I’ll kill you. I’m gonna kill you Randy.” He says through clenched teeth and the venom in Tommy? Tommy’s voice is tangible. 

“No, you won’t. You’re going to be punished for this, you know. When you’re out don’t forget we still have a contract. Please don’t think about running.”

Time moves and suddenly the man’s gone and Tommy is hovering over the body of his brother. 

Shawn feels it burn on his own hands as Tommy places his on the blood-stained wound. 

“Li.....no no no you’re gonna be ok......you’re gonna be fine! Li!” His screams echo in Shawns ears mixing with police sirens and then turning into the voice of his best friend. A blinding light hits him taking him away from that place.

“Shawn! Shawn!!” The car swims into focus and so does Gus’ face. Shawn’s out of breath and his head is reeling.

“You scared the hell out of me Shawn. Are you ok?” Gus’s hand on Shawns shoulder is stabilizing and he works through his breaths to find his voice. The car has a sudden chill to it, making him realize the sweat beading heavily on his brow. 

“I’m fine....I’m fine.” He says, but it's more like an exhale of breath than anything. 

“You’re really sick, I think I should take you to a hospital.” 

“I’m fine, that was just....” What the actual heck was that? 

“That was scary Shawn. You completely checked out.” The concern in Gus’ eyes is making Shawn freak out more so he shuts his own and rubs a shaking hand down his face. 

“I...saw something, I know their names.” 

“You saw...?” Gus places a look of disbelief and concern out there, making Shawn feel even more crazy and frustrated than he has all week. 

“But It didn’t, It didn’t make sense! Why am I seeing this? Why is it getting more real?” Shawn is beyond furious to even care that he looks insane to his best friend. What was the point of that brain splitting vision? He already knew most of it! And how did it feel like he was actually there?

“Shawn, what are you talking about?” 

“I don’t...I just don’t understand it Gus.” Shawn frustratingly feels close to tears and feels the weight of not only the day but the past weeks of this nonsense on his shoulders and brain and its freaking painful. He grips his aching head in his hands. 

“You’re going to be ok Shawn.” 

He feels a brief reassuring grip on his shoulder. Gus then puts the car into drive and moves back onto the road from where they pulled over. Shawn doesn’t even recognize where they are and that thought alone scares him. 

What is wrong with him? He suddenly feels heat of embarrassment for the whole car ride. He’s stayed strong and mostly sane since this mess began and all it takes is one stupid vision to almost bring him completely down and close to tears? 

Gus drives and they remain in a silence filled with Gus shooting concerning looks his way. That is until Shawn recognizes the street they’re on. 

“Oh no, please don’t take me to my dad.” 

“Nope, it’s your dad’s or the hospital Shawn.” 

“I’m not sick!” 

“You’re burning up! And you’re kinda freaking me out here.” The beat-up house belonging to Shawn's beloved father comes into view and Gus let’s out a breath. “You really scared me, Shawn. What is going on with you?” 

What is going on with him? The visions...the headaches....the out of body experiences...maybe....Shawn swallows. “Gus I think I’m psychic.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To say Shawn is happy to be back at the front door of his childhood home is a straight-up lie. After rapping on the peeling paint about three times and waiting about 3 seconds Shawn quickly turns, making a beeline for Gus’s car. 

“Shawn!” Gus yells behind him closely followed by the same yell and tone from his father. Since Shawns outburst about three or so minutes ago Gus seems to think Shawn is about to lose it completely. His friends concern is flattering but also a little overbearing. 

“Shawn get back here!” 

The car is so close but Shawn knows Gus won’t follow at this point. Walking to his apartment Isn’t an option either, he could just camp out on the beach for a few hours? Maybe hitchhike? Any other option is better than the one right behind him. 

“Shawn!” A groan leaves the fake psychic’s (maybe not so fake?) mouth and he slowly turns around to be face to face with an assortment of colors with some thrown up Hawaiian print. 

“Dad! Just came by to let you know the nearby surf shop called asking for their pack of decorated beach balls back but I see you’ve already turned it into a shirt, so no use now.” He takes another step backwards towards his escape in the form of a blueberry. 

“Shawn.” Gus gives him a look. 

“Oh, what else? Uh...can’t think of anything...” 

“Gus, will you tell me what on earth is going on?” 

“Dad, it’s fine! I had an old Pineapple smoothie and Gus was concerned it’d give me Hepatitis B but turns out that's not even possible so false alarm really...” Where is his smoothie? Suddenly Shawn sees the blood on his hands again and can physically feel the blood drain from his face. 

His dad's face is suddenly too close. “Shawn, I’m not going to ask again come inside and sit down.” Shawns confused because when did he even ask the first time? But the ground tilts below him so he decides that is a better idea than hitchhiking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you all think! And thank you for your patience, and your comments make my day! Kudos to you guys!


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